If I'm not too distracted by other things, I'd like to get a first public set of .deb packages, and a first public Windows NSIS-based .exe installer released by the end of the month (January 2008). This is a goal, not a promise :-)

NOTES:

(1) The big change as far as packaging goes in 0.8.3 is that it allows for the RXTX and Java3D and j3d.org libraries to be in a static place that is unaffected by JAVA_HOME, and so remains independent of which Java version you are running. This has been tested on both Linux and Windows, and is a large part of what has allowed progress on "real" installation packages to occur. If you already have the libraries installed under $JAVA_HOME/lib/ext, that's OK, we'll still find and use them from there.

(2) The reprap.properties file has changed a fair bit since 0.8.1, so if you want to easily see all the new properties, consider renaming your old reprap.properties file and then running the Reprap software -- it will generate you a new one with all the new things in it. But then you'll have to edit all your customizations back into the new one!